Countdown to Evac
by Kira'sGuardian
Summary: Military AU. The Guardians and Jamie are part of the Russian army. Tragedy befalls our favorite frost spirit and his family. Contains characters from my other story Roses and Frostbite.


10….

Fighter jets scream overhead while a troop of harried soldiers hurry through the underbrush, flee their pursuers and race towards their destination. Have to get to her. Have to win the war.

9…..

A tiny girl hides under the body of her mother, tears stream down her muddy face as she watches the soldiers run past. A flash of blue eyes, a cry. Have to tell them. Get Daddy. We must get Daddy. Mommy is hurt. Mommy is bleeding.

8…..

A soldier pauses, sees the girl, the dead mother. Sweeps her up, tucks her into his arm and carries his AK-47 in the other hand. "Found target." Must run, keep her safe. Have to live.

7…

The girl sees a flash of silver in a window, hears a gunshot. Her savior stumbles. He is hit, bleeding from his shoulder. Hands her to another. "Get going!" She is carried away. The fallen soldier disappears. She struggles from the other's grasp, runs back. Sees the body, the blood. Runs to him, hugs him. "Thank you." She is swept away again.

6….

The rookie holds her too tightly. It hurts to breathe. She can't see where they are going. It's too dark. Another soldier takes her from him, holds her like her father did. She curls into his grasp, sighs at the familiarity.

5…..

The soldier looks at the sleeping girl, tucks her closer and runs faster, harder. Must reach the goal. Have to evac soon.

4….

She's dreaming, he sees. Just like she did when she was young. Well, younger. He smirks slightly and turns his mind back to his run. Almost there. Just a few more streets. He can see the chopper waiting, rotors already spinning. So close, just a few precious seconds.

3….

She can hear the noise; it wakes her up. She's suddenly back in reality; her body bounces in the soldier's arms. It's light again, she sees. She looks up at the face of the man carrying her. Recognizes him.

2….

He hears the shot before the bullet rips into his leg. He drops like a stone, ignores the pain and tucks himself into a ball over her tiny body. She's screaming, crying. He wraps her in his arms and shushes her, calming her.

1…..

"Shh…it's okay, it's okay." He soothes, hopes she will recognize him before the countdown ends. She gasps for air and her head jerks up, her baby blue eyes boring into his own. "D-Daddy?" She whispers, disbelieving. He grins and kisses her forehead. "Yes, sweetie. It's daddy. It's daddy." The slightest smile graces her tiny face, her eyes sparkle. Then she frowns at him. "We're gonna die, Daddy." He nods. How smart she is, for seven years. "Yes, sweetie, we're going to die. But don't worry, we'll see Mommy soon. And Granmomma and everybody else." She smiles. "And Jamie too?" He sighs, remembering the dead man, his closest friend, who saved his daughter. "And Jamie too."

0….. "Time limit reached. Detonating."

The bomb went off, and he tucked her into his embrace and hugged her tightly. "Emma Ria Frost, I love you to the moon and back." He whispered.  
"Jackson Overland Frost, I love you to the moon and back a hundred times over." She murmured back.

The blast radius hit them in a blinding white flash, and all was still. Jackson Overland and Emma Ria Frost were no more.

Epilogue

The wreckage was immense in size and twice that in intensity. The commanding officer of the Russian army stood proudly at the edge of it, arms folded over his broad chest and his white beard. Bright, electric blue eyes watched the helicopter carrying his troops make its way towards him. In some parts of the city smoke still billowed and flames still burned. He chuckled. Another mission successful. His trusted second-in-command, a tall, lean man with dark silvery hair, piercing green eyes, and unmatched skills, stood to his left. The helicopter landed several meters away, the pilot the best they had. He strode to where the troops were unloading and was surprised to see so few. And worse yet, he did not see the three he was looking for. His second returned to his side and murmured, "They ain't on the copter, mate. Pilot didn't check 'em in." The Cossack's frown deepened. His SIC noticed and paled. "No, mate, ya can't jus'-"

"Yes, Aster. I can and I will. I will not leave behind my best soldiers if there is the slightest chance they will survive."

"But what if they didn't, North? Then what? Do you really want to risk the lives of forty men to save four? Granted, two of them were your best soldiers and my closest friends, hell, one was just a _kid, _but do you believe they survived _that_?" Aster gestured to the destruction behind them. "If they did survive the _initial_ blast, the concussion waves woulda' killed them anyways! They were your friends, and my friends, and the best bloody soldiers in the Russian Guard, but if they're dead, dammit, let them be dead honorably!" Aster's voice had risen a full octave and cracked, but the fire blazing in his eyes told North that he shouldn't press this issue any further.

"Sir." He turned, about to snap at the soldier who dared interrupt, but paused. A soldier stood before him, a rookie by the color of his uniform. He saluted North, who saluted back. The rookie had by his side a young girl, no older than ten years of age. She was holding his hand and slightly hiding behind him. She had dirty brown hair, dark hazel eyes, and dirt smudged across her face. But what made him pause were the pure white cat-like ears that sprouted from her head. She curtsied and started to speak.

"Mister North, sir. My name is Coraline, and I and the daughter of Corlein the first, ruler of the Dark Forest. I have come with a message and a parcel for you." She paused and took a deep breath. "My father sends his condolences. He sensed the passing of all: Jamie Bennett, Jackson Overland Frost, Kiraria Jaclyn Frost, and Emma Ria Frost. He immediately sent me to investigate the experience and I found them." She swallowed, and tears brimmed in her eyes. North crouched down to her eye level. "I will take you and two others to retrieve the bodies, but first I bring you this." She held out a necklace in her hand, a small golden leaf twined with green and blue wires, and dead, brown roots hanging loosely from it. She took his hand in her miniscule one, placed the necklace in it, and closed his fingers over it. She looked him in the face and said, "My father asked me to give this to you, so you might leave it with her." North inhaled sharply.  
Coraline turned to face Aster and a tiny smile graced her features. "Bunny. It's been a while." Aster nodded and knelt down on one knee, holding out his hand. The tiny girl took his hand in her own and the two men stood up, looking quite ridiculous with young Caroline between them. North glanced about and nodded to a young female soldier, who quickly joined them. Her multicolored hair and bright violet eyes gave her away, as did her radiant, perfectly white smile. She smiled at Coraline, who nodded curtly and ghosted a smile. She led the way into the damage.

A few minutes later she stopped. North looked around, curious as to why here. They were in the main square of the city, and he could see, very clearly, that there was no one there but them. Coraline released their hands and walked forward. She stopped on the main step of the statue in the center of the square, then turned and faced them. "We are being followed," North immediately whirled, drawing his twin sabers, while Bunny pulled a pistol from his leg holster and his trusted boomerangs from their sheaths. The third soldier, Carry, known to them as Tooth, drew a small dagger and an even smaller hand pistol. Coraline herself stayed perfectly still. "Let me finish." The three turned to her, and the little girl cleared her throat daintily, then raised her voice. "Hello, father."  
The Guardians whirled around as a white fox stepped out from behind the statue and morphed into Corlein, the ruler of the Dark Forest and Ria's first true friend. His pure white fox ears stood at attention on his head and dark brown hair fell roguishly into his face and framed his angled features and piercing yellow eyes. His lean body was draped in the same white clothes they saw him in, eight years ago when he disappeared after he and Ria had a massive fight and he left them. He was just barely shorter than Aster, and came up to North's broad chest. He towered over Tooth's miniscule five foot stature by almost another foot.

He strode towards them confidently, a solemn, blank look on his face, but fire and sadness in his eyes. Tooth stepped forward, slipping her weapons into their proper places. She drew him into a hug and he broke down. Together they sank to the ground and Tooth stroked the silky brown locks. Corlein shuddered in her arms, silent sobs wracking his form. Tooth kissed his forehead and patted his back, then both stood up. Corlein's eyes were bloodshot and damp, but clear. He shook the other Guardians' hands, then patted his daughter's head gently. "I know that Coraline has told you that I sensed their passing, but I wanted to come in person and confirm it with my own eyes."  
North nodded and turned his attention to the young princess. "Lead ze vay, Coraline." He said, sheathing his sabers. The little girl turned wordlessly and started to walk again.

They walked for several minutes until they came to a single street, narrow and straight, leading from the drop point through several other alleys to the extraction point. Coraline halted and frowned. "I will go no further. They lie within here." She retreated to a doorstep and sat down daintily, watching them with wide hazel eyes.


End file.
